One Moment At a Time
by miley-avril
Summary: "You okay, Mom?" "Yeah," Emma nodded. "For once, she wasn't lying when responding to that question. She might not be okay tomorrow, or the next day, or even five minutes from then, but for the moment, Emma was certain of one thing: she was happy (even with a screaming ex-parasite somehow being fit into the small apartment.)" Or, Snowing welcomes a new baby.


**I HAVEN'T WRITTEN ANY ONE-SHOTS IN A WHILE, AND THIS CAME TO ME AS I WAS PLAYING THE SIMS 3. I KNOW IT'S BEEN DONE TONS OF TIMES BY OTHER AUTHORS, BUT I WANTED TO GIVE IT A GO. THANKS FOR READING AND, AS ALWAYS, REVIEWS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED.**

**I DO NOT OWN ONCE UPON A TIME OR ITS CHARACTERS.**

* * *

Henry had taken Ruby up on her offer to get an ice cream after Snow had started moaning, leaving Emma all alone with a panicky David, an irritated Dr. Whale, and a laboring Snow. Though the epidural had relieved enough of Snow's pain that she was no longer moaning or whimpering, she was still clearly uncomfortable, which made Emma uncomfortable. She still couldn't believe the kid had left her! Wasn't it bad enough that she was already jealous of the new baby and the mixed feelings she'd had since she found out about it hadn't gone away? Now she had to act all smiley and happy when the screaming bundle was going to be passed to her, without Henry's antics to give her a real smile. She wanted to love her new brother or sister, she really did, but how was she supposed to when he or she was three decades younger than her and was able to grow up with their parents when she wasn't? God, she _so_ did not want to be alone with them right now.

"Emma?" Snow's raspy voice broke through her thoughts.

"Yeah?" Even though she was majorly annoyed, she was still concerned for her best friend and mother, so she was at her side again in an instant.

"I think it's going to be time to push in a few minutes–"

"T.M.I.!"

"Sorry." The brunette managed a small, amused smile at her daughter's inability to talk about something they'd both been through. "I was going to say, if you want to take a walk, you can." Right. Of course they wouldn't want her there for the big moment. This baby was their chance to be real parents, and they wouldn't want her there as a sore reminder of that.

"Yeah." She nodded, putting her mask firmly in place, making sure they wouldn't see the disappointment. "I'll get Henry back from Ruby and pick up some hot chocolate while I'm at it. I assume after you push it out, he'll let you at least drink." She stuck her thumb in Dr. Whale's direction, who only grunted his response. The two of them had been cordial when they'd first rushed Snow into the Emergency Room, but it had all gone downhill after he'd muttered something inappropriate –or, at least, in Emma's eyes it was inappropriate– and it hadn't gotten any better.

"Yes, your mother will be able to drink." Dr. Whale said after he mentally counted to five.

"And Emma." Snow's hand shot out to latch on to the blonde's. At Emma's questioning look, she said, "It's not that we're trying to get you out of here, it's that you look uncomfortable as it is and I don't think it's going to get any prettier in here." David reached out and grabbed her other hand and squeezed it. His eyes were lit up with pride and love. Suddenly, her throat closed up and _dear god she wasn't having a panic attack over her parents having another baby_.

"Okay." Was all she could get out around the lump in her throat. She'd have loved to mumble an 'I love you' because it'd be the last time she'd be able to say it without them being preoccupied with their new kid, but she was afraid she'd lose the tenuous control she had on her emotions.

"Nothing's going to change." David whispered as he wrapped her in a tight embrace, unable to restrain himself any longer. "Don't you think for a minute that we're going to love you any less just because of the new baby. You're still ours, Emma, and still so incredibly special to us, more than you'll ever know." Despite the tears brimming in her eyes, Emma pulled back to search his face for any sign that he was lying. She found none. Nodding, she took a step towards Snow.

"I love you." The blonde said quietly, giving her an awkward hug. "And thanks. I don't really wanna be here for uh… you know…"

"Yes, I know." Snow laughed, giving her daughter's hand a final squeeze. "Now, go be with your son." Swiping at her eyes, Emma made her way to the door.

"When we get back, that kid better be out. I'd hate to walk in on…" She made a face.

"I'd hate for _Henry_ to walk in on it." David shuddered, recalling the 'Taco Incident' as he and Snow affectionately called it.

* * *

Emma breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she saw Henry sitting at the counter, playing with the straw in his chocolate milkshake.

"Hey, Kid." She smiled, sliding onto the stool next to him.

"Hi." He and Ruby both chirped at the same time, though Ruby had concern laced through hers.

"Snow's fine." Emma said with a dismissive wave. "I mean, David's hand might not be, but she'll be absolutely fine once she's holding the screaming, red faced parasite." She really hadn't meant to put such a sarcastic, venomous edge into the last part.

"That's… uh… good?" Ruby offered a weak smile. "I'd pour you a drink, but your mom said specifically to not give you alcohol."

"Jesus, she really thinks I'd come here and drink? I know they're gonna make me hold the thing, so I wouldn't risk accidentally dropping it or something." She rolled her eyes.

"But she said that you can have however much hot chocolate you want."

"Yippee, she usually cuts me off at two." The blonde rolled her eyes again. "But make that four. I'm bringing some back for all of us. Hey, you wanna come and watch Henry while I go in first? Just in case the kid's not out yet?" Of course, she didn't mention the real reason being that she didn't need her son to see her act like a three year old over the fact that her parents just had a new baby. And then the other option was she'd have a complete mental breakdown… neither of which would be pretty.

"Mom, I don't need anyone to watch me." Henry resisted the urge to whine. He was _twelve_ for crying out loud! He certainly did not need a babysitter.

"Sorry, I have all these random memories of me raising you, forgive me for being a little attached." He didn't point out that she was already attached before the New York fiasco, such as the fact that she only let him walk himself to the bus stop two times since the Curse broke, and that was only because there were major crises that demanded her presence at them.

"Ems?" Ruby asked.

"Hmm?" She glanced up.

"You might wanna work on putting a little cheer into your voice and less sarcasm." At that, Emma shot Ruby a warning look, her eyes drifting to Henry.

"I'll just uh… be in the bathroom." He could see they needed to talk about adult stuff, so he decided to let them be for a few minutes. Emma smiled at him as he walked away.

"Are you okay?" Ruby whispered, hopping over the counter to grab the stool Henry had just vacated. "I mean, I know it's a stupid question, but still…"

"I'll be okay."

"Emma…"

"I know, I know… It's just that I haven't had all the time I wanted, needed, I guess, to get to know them and let them just be my parents. I suppose after twenty eight years, there'd never really be enough time. But that won't change the fact that the baby's probably almost out now, and there's nothing that'll change that. But I'll be okay. I always am." She stared into her mug, wishing there was a little liquor in it. Ruby gave her a sympathetic smile and put her hand on her forearm.

"I know I can't possibly understand what you're going through, but if you ever need an ear, I'm never more than a phone call away."

"Thank you." Emma said after a moment, biting her lip. "I like the fact that you're my friend, not my friend and my mom."

"Technically I'm your godmother, but that's not important."

"Yeah, and the dwarves are my godfathers. All seven of them."

"Stealthy would've made eight." Ruby added sadly. They both looked up as Henry rounded the corner.

"Ready to go?" Emma asked.

"Yup." The boy smiled.

"I'm coming, too." The brunette announced.

"Ruby, I don't need–" Henry got cut off,

"I know you don't, but you think I'm gonna miss seeing my best friend's second child? I already missed out on seeing your mom as a baby, no way am I missing this one."

"You didn't miss much." Emma said as the exited the diner. "I was just a screaming, crying, pink, flailing thing."

"Clearly you didn't read the book." Henry said, hopping into the backseat of the Bug. "You were totally calm as Gramps brought you to the wardrobe."

"I was a baby, I had no idea people were trying to kill me." Emma tried to rationalize. She was definitely not ready to admit that the reason she must've been so calm and quiet as her father fought for her life was because she trusted him on the most basic level to keep her safe.

"Whatever." Henry said.

* * *

"You want us to go with you?" Ruby asked as the entered the waiting room.

"No." Emma sighed. "I'll come get you once I'm able to."

"Good luck, Mom." Henry hugged her. She hated the way he was nearly as tall as her. Taking a deep breath, she made her way down the hall to room 112. It was supposed to be a double room, but since Storybrooke General didn't have many patients, the Royal Family got it all to themselves. Standing at the door (Snow's bed was a window one) was David, holding a tiny white blanket, which had a little face peeking out of it. Upon closer inspection, Emma could see the blue hat. She took in a shaky breath and tapped on the window. David looked up and smiled, and she could see the tearstains on his cheeks. He quietly opened the door and closed it behind him. Emma's eyes were glued to the baby cradled in his arms.

"Would you like to meet your brother, James?" His smile grew and more tears formed.

"Nice namesake." She said, her throat closing up again.

"If you were a boy, that's what your mom was going to name you…" He didn't want her to think she was any less important or special because she wasn't named after anyone, or that the reason she wasn't was simply because she wasn't special. "She kinda chose your name before she even told me she was pregnant. It means 'whole' and 'universal', both of which are fitting because you made her and I whole and cause of the savior thing…" He trailed off once he glanced up, seeing the moisture gathering along her lash line and the moisture on her cheeks.

"Emma, I'm sorry if I said something that upset you."

"No, it's… me." She sighed, rubbing a frustrated hand across her face. "I'm the one who should be sorry. Don't worry, really."

"Emma, look at me." He said seriously, the tone one James hadn't yet heard because he whimpered. "Shh, little guy." He said softly, then looked back at Emma. "You're my daughter. I love you. I care about you, and your feelings. Don't ever think that we aren't going to worry about you or how you're feeling, because that's never going to change, Sweetheart."

"I'm happy for you." More tears fell, but she didn't bother wiping them. "I really am. I feel so horrible because I've been awful to you and Mom this entire time… for the past eight months and I know you didn't even mean to have him. But still, you guys deserve this chance and…" She sighed, frustrated with herself. "Sorry, I suck at this stuff."

"It's okay." He shifted James to one arm and used the pad of his left hand to brush the tears from Emma's cheeks. "You don't need to explain yourself. You have every right to feel the way you feel. Your mom and I don't blame you." He glanced into the room and smiled. "I'm just glad she's staying put this time and not walking around."

"Yeah." Emma laughed, really laughed, for what felt like the first time in a really long time. She felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "Can I..?" She motioned to the sleeping bundle in her father's arms.

"Absolutely." He smiled, trying his best to hold back more tears as he transferred James to Emma.

"Am I doing it right?" She asked nervously. "I've never held a baby before."

"You're a natural." David winked. "Just make sure you support his head and you'll be all set."

"Okay." She whispered. The baby's head was tilted a bit higher than necessary, but David didn't comment. He knew she was just doing what he said –supporting the head.

"If you're okay out here, I figured I'd give you two some alone time and check on your mom."

"Go." Emma smiled, looking up for the first time since she started holding her baby brother. "We'll be okay."

"Okay." He wanted to squeeze her hand reassuringly, but it looked as if Emma wasn't going to be moving her arms any time soon. She was too scared she'd hurt James if she wasn't holding on tight –but not too tight– with two hands. With a final glance at his children, David went back into the room.

"Hey, little guy." Emma bounced her brother slightly. Slowly, he opened his eyes and stared up curiously. "I'm your big sister." He cooed softly, causing her to smile. "I've never had a sibling before, so it sounds kinda strange to say it." She laughed as more tears fell. "I'm sorry I wasn't so nice to you before. It's cause I'm jealous. You get to grow up with the most amazing parents ever and I didn't. But I promise I'm gonna try to be the best big sister. I don't really have much experience with it, but I have a good idea of what not to do. Our mom likes to call me an overgrown teenager. Wow," She breathed, "_Our _mom. Um, anyway, my point was that though some people call me immature, I'm gonna be better. Mom and Dad are gonna do a great job with you, but if anyone's ever mean to you at school, I'll kick their a– butts. I'll kick their butts. You are so special and you deserve to have someone fight for you and take care of you. And I promise I'll never let _anyone _hurt you, okay?"

In response to her rambling, James snuggled into her. A touched smile broke out across her face. He made another noise, causing Emma to laugh.

"I really am sorry I wasn't nice to you, but I promise I don't hate you. I might get jealous sometimes, but just remember that I love you. But you can't tell anyone that yet, okay?" She smiled. "Clearly you're not going to answer me." A door swung open down the hall and closed with a 'bang'. James' face twisted and she panicked. "Let's bring you back in to Mom, okay?" She said as she rushed to open the door to Snow's room. Normally she'd go in quietly, but James was going to wake her up anyway.

"He doesn't like me." She falsely declared as she carefully handed him over to Snow. She didn't want the town thinking that simply holding a baby could turn her into a pile of goo (despite the fact that the anger she once felt towards James burned off into love the second he was in her arms.)

"Oh, Emma, I'm sure that's not true." Snow said with a tired but soothing, loving voice. "Shh James, it's okay. Mommy's got you." David offered his son a finger, to which the baby grabbed on. In an instant, he calmed down.

"You did this, too." David said absentmindedly, his eyes flicking up to Emma for a moment before settling back on James. "Actually, you held onto my finger so hard I wasn't sure how I was gonna pry you off."

"I can see that." She laughed, not really knowing what to say. Talking about the few precious minutes her parents had had her when she was a baby was still an uncomfortable subject for all of them, even more so now that there was a new bundle situated in Snow's arms. God and it'd only been a half an hour since the kid was born.

"You were a fighter, that much was obvious from the first time you kicked inside me. It became even more obvious after you started flailing when Doc tried to wrap you up in your blanket. Your Daddy had to." Snow was clearly having a hard time changing mindsets when dealing with her children. Emma snorted, then choked on her saliva. David looked over at her in concern.

"What happened?"

"I have _never_ called anyone 'Daddy'." She said. "But don't worry. You'll get to hear it from James." If she sounded a little disappointed, neither of her parents commented on it.

"I bet you did at one point." Snow said. "Even Emma Swan was a little girl once."

"Yeah, maybe when I was three." The blonde scoffed. "That was when my first foster family sent me back, cause they had a kid of their own. I was actually happy with them, and I think I accepted them as parents –obviously I knew they weren't– but after that, I swore to never think of anyone as my parents ever again." Only after she paused to take a breath did she realize what she had just said.

"That's why you were so upset when we told you we were having a baby, you thought James was going to replace you." Snow blinked back tears. "Oh, Sweetheart, that isn't going to happen. We told you, we didn't mean to get pregnant, but James certainly… we'd never call him a mistake, just as you would never call Henry a mistake. Still… if we'd known that was why you were so upset. We thought it was for obvious reasons… not because someone had replaced you with a new baby in the past." All Emma could do was look down. She hadn't meant to say what she'd said, but it was out there and she couldn't take it back.

"Emma, look at us." David said in an unusual instance of him taking point in his and Snow's peptalk. Reluctantly, the blonde met his eyes for a moment, but then they flicked back down. He didn't pressure her to make eye contact again. "You can't possibly understand how special you are to us. You made us parents. We may not have raised you, and we may have missed twenty eight years, but we wouldn't change a single thing. It kills us to have not raised you, but look at you, Emma. We couldn't have done a better job with you if we tried, and that's because you are _perfect _just the way you are. We can't understand how you're feeling and what you're going through, but please know we're here for you. Whenever you're feeling left out our jealous of James, tell us. Obviously we can't teach you how to tie your shoes or how to talk–"

"There's a few grammatical things I could correct, but whenever I go into teacher mode Henry makes fun of me." Snow interjected because Emma was crying again and clearly uncomfortable with it, so she wanted to take the focus away from her daughter even for a moment.

"_But_," David continued, ignoring his wife's comment for the time being, "that doesn't mean we can't do special things… besides, a little birdie told me you don't swim."

"I doggie paddle!" The blonde insisted.

"In a storm-ravaged ocean, doggie paddling is useless." David said gently. Laughing, Emma wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I've already had that conversation with her, Charming." Snow said quietly. However, their daughter's outburst had woken James up.

"I should probably get Henry now that the little red-faced alien's up. He's gonna be ecstatic to have a… uncle?"

"Yes." Snow sighed, locking eyes with her husband. "James is his uncle."

"Wow. Henry has an uncle who's thirteen years younger than him." Emma shook her head. "Crazy."

"You don't have a daughter who's the same age as you." Snow smirked.

"You weren't thrown into a fairytale, found out your parents are Snow White and Prince Charming and your step-grandmother is your son's adoptive mother who also happens to be the Evil Queen. I think I take the cake on that one."

"You do." David chuckled, moving over to Snow to take a turn holding the baby. "Bring Henry in to see him, I'm sure he's barely containing himself."

"Actually, when Ruby took him to get ice cream, he looked like he wanted to throw up. If he even _wants_ to come back in, I'll be surprised."

"You looked like you wanted to throw up when you went to get him." David quipped.

"I know what it feels like, and it ain't fun."

"Isn't." Snow corrected.

"Please don't remind me that you've had a baby." Now it was David's turn to take on a pale shade of green.

"Not that we don't love Henry, that's not what your father means." Snow rolled her eyes at David's lack of eloquence. "It's just hard for us to think of you as being so grown up because, well, those twenty eight years went like that to us." With her newly free hand, the brunette snapped. "But let's not focus on that right now." She smiled. "Right now, let's focus on our family. Go get your son, Emma." With a small smile, Emma swiped under her eyes one last time before exiting to find Henry. He and Ruby both jumped up when they saw her.

"You have an uncle, Kid." She smiled. "A screaming, red-faced, flailing, loud, tiny uncle." Ruby raced off ahead of them, eager to get to her best friend, but also to give mother and son a moment alone.

"You okay, Mom?" Henry asked, slipping his hand into hers. Normally he'd never allow anyone to see him holding his mom's hand at thirteen years old, but he didn't care right now; besides, if anyone asked, he'd say it was for her emotional support and not because he'd missed out on ten years of hand-holding and this was a good excuse to make up for it.

"Yeah." She squeezed his hand. For once, she wasn't lying when responding to that question. She might not be okay tomorrow, or the next day, or even five minutes from then, but for the moment, Emma was certain of one thing: she was happy (even with a screaming ex-parasite somehow being fit into the small apartment.)


End file.
